Last week on my "day off" I traveled to Athens, Texas, a city of about 13,000 (it seemed much bigger!) about 70 miles southeast of Dallas to visit the East Texas Arboretum, to eat a great BBQ rib lunch at Applebee's and hopefully to see some Texas bluebonnets (alas, there were few but tons of Indian paintbrush). I had made a note somewhere in time that there was an angel statuary at the Athens City Cemetery so of course that was another hotspot on my travel map.
It didn't take long to spot this dynamic duo in the center of the historic cemetery which is only a few blocks from the courthouse square (oh, btw, my courthouse photos were poor because the number of trees around the Henderson County Courthouse in Athens make it virtually impossible to photograph).
Both these lovely statues are in the Wofford family plot. The Woffords were obviously a notable family in this area because these are magnificent pieces of art, although I can find little information about them. Supposedly the seniormost Wofford served in the Civil War and came to Texas shortly thereafter where he was a prominent businessman. One of his relatives, undoubtedly, was a noted Civil War general but remained in the South after the War. The first names were different. There is a small town named for the Woffords about five miles from Athens.
What struck me as unusual about these statues was their cleanliness. Most cemetery statuary in this area is encrusted with soot and lichen and very few families have the resources to keep the marble as clean as these seem to be.
16 comments:
they are both works of art and so beautiful. I am with you, never seen clean statues in a cemetery. these look new...
they are almost spotless! i thought maybe they were of a different material, but guess not.
All the time I was reading this and looking at the photos, I had the exact same thought about how clean and bright they are. They are really beautiful.
Hi Kathy,
when this title popped up I thought wow, now she came to Greece, lol!
The angels are so beautiful. I love to visit old cemetries and read the names on the tomb stones.
Liebe Grüße,
Pia
Beautiful statues and well cared for too. It is interesting to look around these old places.
I posted more today about the wagon wheel.
They are beautiful, and they do look almost like new! Whoever made these back in the day did beautiful work.
First thing that came to mind was that they were so clean. Almost doesn't seem right. Nice cemetery to visit, though. Hope you enjoy your days off.
The statues really are quite beautiful. They look almost new. I hope having a day off every week has helped.
I would love that we would have such amazing statues in our small city. I would stand in front of them for a long, long time.
It's a beautiful old cemetery. Your pictures are wonderful dear Kathy!
Beautiful stone work.
They are lovely, looks like a beautiful cemetery!!
Stunning statues with lovely details!
Beautiful art works!
You had a great trip.
I like the way you photographed the first image. I am glad they can maintain the statues too. Maybe there is a trust or something for them.
They are truly beautiful statues...and an interesting family history. Yes, it seems the family must keep them clean, which is so nice!
Oh how gorgeous- I love to walk through cemeteries and see these beautiful angels...you're right, they are exceptionally clean.
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